Hi Bonnie,

Emmanuel Lee

Hi Emmanuel,

First off, kudos to you for targeting a manageable number of casting directors who consistently cast your type, rather than attempting to blanket the whole town with your demo reel. That streamlining is going to help your focus a great deal. Well done!

Next, yes. Most CDs are too busy to look at every DVD that comes in the mail. I think I’m being generous when I say that most of us look at less than a third of what comes in, unsolicited. And those have to seem pretty dang special to get a “pop in.”

I’ve addressed the question of “will they watch what I send them” in a previous column (scroll down toward the end of that piece) and you pretty much have to let go of attachment to what happens after you get your reel to us. Because, yeah, most of us aren’t gonna watch ’em.

What I’ve noticed though is that a good many of us are likely to take a look at reels or clips posted on Facebook or at YouTube, when you reach out to us via those social networking environments. For example, if I’m taking a break and killing time on Facebook (note: I sometimes visit Facebook to work, as it’s where some producers prefer to forward me links to actors’ pages or articles about locations at which we’ll be shooting, etc.) and I have a message in my inbox from an actor, asking me to check out his reel, I might just do it! If it’s short. If I’ve got a minute. If the actor hasn’t spammed a LIST of Facebook friends (who will now “reply all” back and forth about nothing of interest to me for the next three days), then yes, I’ll check it out and become aware of that actor’s work.

I’ll also check it out if it’s submitted with an electronic profile through Actors Access (or by the actor’s agent or manager using Breakdowns) on a specific role for a specific project I’m casting.

But that’s me. Some CDs may see Facebook as their private space for downtime and not enjoy receiving links to reels there. This is where more of that research stuff comes into play. If you’ve read an interview with one of your targeted CDs (or if she’s spoken at an event and you’ve attended and heard her answer a question of this ilk) and know that she doesn’t want actors to reach out via Facebook, then don’t do it. Just like with all things, you can’t use one brush to paint us all. We each have different preferred methods of interacting. The fact that you care at all about finding what might work for each of us puts you way ahead of the game, as most actors will simply do a “one size fits all” approach… and it’ll feel exactly that customized and specific to us, too. “Dear Sir or Madame…” comes to mind.

Anyway, if you do have an email address or a Facebook connection or LinkedIn network that gets you to the CD you’re targeting, simply ask what he or she would prefer, when it comes to your reel. Some may actually want you to snail-mail your DVD and will then watch it the old-fashioned way. Others may encourage you to share via Facebook. And others might not reply at all, hoping you’ll understand that we get a ton of mail and that we’ll know where to look up your work, when we want to check it out.

While we’re on the topic, let me share a couple of links from past discussions of Demo Reels, Demo Reels (Revisited), and how to tie in your marketing materials (including cover letter) to really be sure you’re “selling” the reel (which makes it more likely that we’ll watch it in the first place). There. That ought to do it! Keep up the good work and good luck getting that reel seen!

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001036.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.